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On Thursday morning, December 1, there was once again a line of people outside Casa Esperanza’s main gate, waiting to sign up for its four-month-long winter-nights shelter. As beds are limited and assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, those in line were the people who weren’t willing to risk being turned away.

By 2 p.m., 164 people had been guaranteed a bed for the cold, rainy season, though many will not stay the entire time. One hundred of them were already residing at Casa Esperenza, actually, occupying “program beds” or beds given to people willing to work a certain plan of action that will, ostensibly, move them into employment, housing, or both.

By the end of Thursday, the women’s dorm was full, said Casa chief manager Imelda Loza. Two women on a waiting list in the afternoon were ultimately accommodated. That means, unless someone leaves, women seeking shelter at Casa from this point on will be referred to the Rescue Mission.

Comments

What, if anything is being done to help these people get out from under the weight of managed programs and into a real life?

Emergency shelters serve a purpose, absolutely, but when there is no chance of ever being able to secure a decent job, or if employed already, being able to afford proper shelter, then a problem exists that just is not being solved.

The endless cycle of social services and programs is a nice source of income for those on the payrolls of these organizations, but shouldn't the focus instead be on the program recipients achieving eventual complete independence, as opposed to a lifetime job for program providers?

This will never happen as long as there is money to be made off of the homeless and poor. These organizations and the execs running them are not providing these services for an altruistic purpose; this is a source of often lucrative income, in an era when nice, cushy sit-down jobs with fat benefits, health care, and retirement are harder to come by than ever. Take the big bucks out of the equation and those paper pushers will vanish into thin air, leaving the actual boots-on-the-ground workers and volunteers to hold the bag.